


You're Cutest When You're Warm

by Lilyliegh



Series: Appleshipping Week 2018 [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 18:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14267121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyliegh/pseuds/Lilyliegh
Summary: Rin loves every little bit of the wintry weather, especially when she's dressed up warm and cosy. Unfortunately, Yuugo never got the message that you don't wear shorts in subzero temperatures.





	You're Cutest When You're Warm

**Author's Note:**

> for Appleshipping Week day 02: ice
> 
> also if you didn't know winter is my favourite season and i love wintry prompts! >w<

“You sure look cosy today!” Yuzu says, running her hand up and down Rin’s plush sweater. “Is this new?”

Rin shakes her head. “Swapped out my winter clothes this weekend, so I’ve got a whole new fashion wardrobe.”

Yuzu clicks her tongue, giving Rin’s arm one more rub before she heads off elsewhere in the flat. Rin snuggles deeper into her sweater. She did swap out her clothes recently and has since been reveling in the warmth it has brought her. With the change in weather and the clear arrival of winter, large sweaters and fuzzy socks have been much appreciated. Rin even has a pair of fleece-lined jeans just for when the subzero temperatures hit.

Today, she’s dressed warmly because she has class. It’s not a far walk across campus to the engineering building, but out the window Rin sees what looks like a blizzard brewing. Snow sweeps across the field in great, gusting torrents, like some god-like force is taking a big breath of air and shooting snow everywhere. Even from inside, Rin shivers. She loves the snow, and even the cold, but winter is best celebrated when one is warm.

She busies herself getting ready for class, making tea, packing her bag, and then dressing warmly. Rin always comes prepared: a thick parka that reaches down to her knees and with a fur-lined hood; knitted beanie and mittens; and a thick, corded scarf that she wraps around her neck and ties behind her head. All the gear makes it difficult to bend over or cross her arms, but she knows how snug she’ll be once she braves the wintry weather.

“You look cute!” Yuzu tells her from the doorway. She leans on the frame, holding a steaming mug of tea between her hands. “You’re making me jealous too.”

Rin playfully sticks out her tongue. “Hopefully I don’t see some poor, unfortunate soul who doesn't know how to check the weather.”

“There’s always one,” Yuzu says with a teasing smile. She takes a sip of her tea, and then adds, “Have a good class. See you when you get back.”

“See you,” Rin says. She hikes her backpack up on her shoulder and grabs her tea before she heads out the door. Outside of her dorm room, Rin can hear every other damn student in the building, even over the sound of the fierce, whistling wind. She growls under her breath at their noisiness as she heads down the stairs and to the door. Outside though, it’s blissfully silent. There’s not a single chirp or whoop to be heard; the snow, like a thick blanket, has muffled any possible noise.

For just a moment, Rin stands at the entryway to her dorm building and takes a deep breath of winter air. It fills her lungs, chilling her for just a moment, before she sighs appreciatively. The world smells so fresh today. When the wind tries to scrape across her cheeks, her cabled scarf catches the breeze in its fibers; when Rin dips her hand into the snow, she doesn’t feel the biting chill.

This is the kind of winter weather Rin loves. While she misses riding her bike through warm streets and out in the open air, winter brings a different kind of love. Rin loves curling up before fires and making cup after cup of hot tea. Outside, Rin loves the feel of cold air in her lungs and icicles against her cheeks. With the right gear, winter is just as magical as summer.

Rin heads to class with content in her heart. Her footsteps sink into the thick, crunchy snow. There’s a thin, dusty layer that hasn’t solidified quite yet, and with each step she takes the snow puffs away like popcorn. The walk to school takes longer because of the weather, but Rin enjoys it all the same.

About halfway to class though, she sees someone walking through the snow … er, trying to. His steps are wonky and clunky, in part because he’s wearing  _ sneakers  _ – and not even the kind that you can run in, but fancy high-tops that are soaked through. He’s wearing  _ shorts  _ too, bare legs red from the cold. And a shirt – long-sleeved, but still!

Rin tries to keep the gasp out of her voice, but she still snorts loudly. How did this guy get out of the house? How come he didn’t go back and change?

She stops walking and watches the guy trying to climb through the snow. It’s obvious he’s freezing, hands tucked into the thin fabric of his sleeves and nestled to his chest. He hops from foot to foot. It’s likely his toes, and probably even the soles of his feet, are frozen too. 

Just how did this guy make it out his front door?

Rin chuckles to herself once more, and then she takes pity on the poor guy and heads over towards him. She feels like she’s mocking him even as she approaches; it’s not like she’s skimped out on her winter gear. Fortunately, the guy doesn’t even see her, his head bowed. As she gets closer, through the snow in his hair and on him, Rin realises who exactly it is.

Oh.

“Yuugo.”

Yuugo’s head snaps up, and he lets out a scream, obviously startled. He stumbles back, toppling down into the cold snow. He doesn’t shiver, even with his red hands in the snow. His cheeks and nose are cherry-red too, and he sniffles loudly at her. His blue hair and blond bangs droop from the weight of the heavy snow clumped atop his head like a snowcap.

“Give me some warning!” Yuugo says.

“What are you wearing?” Rin asks. She reaches down to help him up, and Yuugo gladly takes her hand. Through her mitten Rin can  _ feel  _ the chill on Yuugo’s skin and in his bones. He must have hypothermia, she thinks, yet Yuugo still smiles through it all and laughs.

“It’s just a lil cold,” he says.

“It’s snowing.”

“A little,” Yuugo repeats, this time with narrowed eyes. The effect is wholly ruined when his body gives a great, violent shudder, as if its trying to reboot itself before it goes to sleep from decreased body temperature. 

Rin doesn’t budge. Yuugo looks like a popsicle out here.

“Here, have my scarf.” She unwinds the scarf from her neck, but only gets it halfway undone before Yuugo pushes her hand back.

“I’m not cold, Rin-rin,” he says.

“Your shivering would say othehrwise.”

“That’s excitement.”

Rin sighs noisily through her nose. Yuugo is by the far the most stubborn person she has ever met, and she herself is pretty hard-headed. There’s no point in arguing with Yuugo though, so Rin rewinds her scarf and begins trudging through the snow again. She makes sure she stays in line with Yuugo, not because she thinks he’ll fall into a coma or anything … but because, when she looks at him, he can’t really be doing well. It’s below zero and he’s wearing summer clothes. Nothing about him even looks warm; just a single glance at him makes pity coil around her heart.

They make it into the building though without a single word. Yuugo shakes the snow from his hair and body, though Rin realises that his clothes are thoroughly soaked too. 

“Do you not even have a jacket?” she asks.

Yuugo rolls his eyes. 

“Yuugo.”

“What?” he drawls, rubbing up and down his arms and shoving his hands into his armpits. 

“Do you have a jacket?”

“Yeah, my motorcycle –”

“A  _ proper  _ jacket.”

Now it’s Yuugo’s turn to sigh through his nose, though the noise whistles and Rin raises an eyebrow. He can’t have gotten sick already, could he? Colds don’t just appear unless he’s been running himself ragged and dressing this poorly all week.

“It’s fine, Rin-rin – let’s go to class.”

Rin won’t let him off the hook though. Just as Yuugo turns around and begins to head down the hallway, Rin rips off her scarf and flings it over Yuugo’s head. She holds onto the two ends, effectively stopping Yuugo from walking away. 

“Wear it.”

Yuugo huffs.

Rin comes closer, wrapping it once more around his neck and tying it at the back. “Don’t even thank me for it – just wear this until the end of class, all right?”

Truthfully, even Rin knows that a scarf won’t keep Yuugo warm when he’s soaked to the bone and shivering uncontrollably. However, she doesn’t have much else to give him, and at the very least the scarf might soak up some of the water dripping down his blue hair and yellow bangs. He looks cute, round face peeking out of the thick, braided cords.

They walk together to class, and sit together too. While Yuugo loves engineering class and dreams of building his own D-Wheel, he also can’t focus or sit still in class. He usually ends up doodling motorcycles in the margins of his notebooks. Rin takes notes for both of them, and when the teacher splits them up for group activities she makes sure Yuugo is always in her group so that he doesn’t fall behind on the lessons. 

This time in class though Rin feels a pit of worry in her stomach. Yuugo doesn’t stop shivering, and breaths become a bit harsh, clogged even. She tries to offer her jacket to him when his teeth chatter so loudly the front of the class can hear him, but he refuses to take it out of some weird “I-don’t-want-to-owe-you” obligation.

Rin thinks Yuugo is ridiculous, and when his chattering alerts another classmate and they ask if he’s OK, Rin brings up the point.

“You’re going to get sick.”

“Am not,” Yuugo argues. “I got my flu shot.”

“That doesn't matter if you are traipsing outside in fucking shorts and a shirt.”

Yuugo huffs and shoves his hands between his thighs. Rin doubts that’ll keep him warm either; Yuugo looks cold all over, and his skin is either flushed pink of bone-white.

“Just … wear my jacket, all right? Or my mittens. Your teeth are chattering so loudly I can’t even concentrate.”

Yuugo shakes his head though. “You’re hearing things –”

_ “Everyone  _ can hear your teeth chattering. Just –” Rin grabs one of the mittens and holds it out. “Wear it.”

“But then I can’t draw.”

“Fine, then the hat.” She snatches it up, and this time plunks it right onto his head. She makes sure to tuck in his red ears too, and she chuckles as she realises Yuugo’s red ears and cheeks might not entirely be from the cold. He’s blushing; she can feel the heat on her hands before she brings them back and crosses her arms.

“There.”

“No one else is wearing their hat in class,” Yuugo says, sticking out his bottom lip like a pouting child.

“No one else is seconds away from hypothermia,” Rin says. “You look fine.”

Yuugo huffs, and sniffles loudly. “Fine,” he says though, and he turns back to his work.

While the hat doesn’t cure Yuugo’s shivering, over time he begins to look a bit warmer. Rin has stripped herself of her winter gear now that she’s in the classroom, and the heating is turned on to give the room a pleasant, comfortable heat. Over time, it seems to help Yuugo too. By the end of class, his teeth are no longer chattering and there’s a healthy colour to his hands and face again. All too soon though will he have to go back out.

“Hey Yuugo, let’s walk home together.”

“Sure.”

When class is done, Rin drags the time out for as long as she can. She slowly slips on her jacket and mittens, carefully tucking them into her sleeves. Yuugo tries to take the hat off to give it back to her, but Rin pulls down on the edges to keep it in place.

“Wear it.”

“But it’s  _ yours.”  _ The last words come out as a whine.

“Just wear it, all right? For me.”

Rin doesn’t mean for the words to come out as anything more than a “please don’t die,” but when Yuugo’s cheeks burst red and pink, Rin can’t help but snort. Yuugo’s blushes cover his entire face too, and he raises his hands to his face. 

Once they’re both ready to go, Rin leads them back to the door. She stops at the glass doorway and peers outside. It still looks like a blizzard, and now that it’s later in the afternoon it’s grown dark and stormy. It’s undoubtedly colder too. Rin glances at Yuugo, wearing her hat and scarf. His legs are still bare, and his arms and chest are only covered by a thin shirt.

“You have winter clothes, Yuugo?”

“Yeah.”

Rin isn’t convinced at all, but she drops it. She opens the door to the great, blustery world, and shivers at the first gust of wind whips at her face. Yuugo freezes up next to her. Together, they begin to make their way across the campus and to Yuugo’s dorm. He lives in another dorm section, but still in a building that looks identical to Rin’s: brown, tall, and with windows on every level. There’s warm, yellow light coming from inside the building, and Rin imagines stepping into the cosy lobby and snuggling on one of the plush couches.

Quickly, Yuugo hurries inside and begins shaking the snow off his head and shoulders. Rin steps in too, her lungs a bit prickly from being in the dry cold.

Yuugo peeks over his shoulder. “You’re not …”

“Coming in?” Rin finishes, and she laughs when Yuugo’s cheeks grow so red they must be burning his skin. “No, I just wanted to make sure you made it home safely.” She crosses her arms over her chest, pursing her lips. “Dress warmly tomorrow, all right? You better not come to class in shorts.”

“Yes, mom,” Yuugo says.

Rin cuffs him on the shoulder. “And bring the scarf and hat back tomorrow – you can have them for now.”

Yuugo sighs, but he doesn’t tug the hat off or unwind the scarf. He keeps on shivering in the doorway, running his hand under his nose, until at last Rin heads out the door with a wave. She catches him still standing in the lobby until she begins to cross the field and head back towards her own dorm. Without her scarf or hat, the wind nips at her short, green hair and pale neck. Rin pulls her hood up and tucks it around her head. She doesn't have far to walk, yet by the time she sees her own brown building she can feel the chill on her cheeks.

She hurries inside and up the stairs to her dorm room. The heat melts the snow right off, but once she’s in her apartment she strips off her jacket and mittens, and pops her feet out of her snow boots. She hangs up all the wet, cold clothing, and goes in search of dry clothes; though her jacket did its job by keeping her warm, Rin can feel a chill starting under her shirt. 

From down the hallway she hears Yuzu say, “Hey, you’re back!”

“Back from class,” Rin says in reply. She weaves down the hallway and to her bedroom. Her summer clothes are in a pile by the dresser – she’ll put them in her closet soon – and her winter clothes spill out of her drawers: long sleeve fleeces and sweaters; lined jeans and thick leggings; and fuzzy socks galore. Rin pulls out the first shirt and pair of pants she sees, not bothering about styles or patterns or anything. 

When she heads back into the living room, she finds Yuzu curled up on the couch under an afghan blanket, another mug of tea in her hands. 

“Gosh, you look snuggable,” Yuzu tells her.

“Do I?” Rin says, settling down on the couch and tucking her legs underneath her. She pulls the other blanket off the back of the couch and wraps it around her shoulders. “Because apparently trying to offer your warm clothes to Yuugo is equivalent to the deepest, deprecating pity.”

Yuzu pauses, processing the words – and then laughs outright. “Really?”

“Really.” Rin huffs under her breath. “He’s going to catch pneumonia.”

“He’s hardy.”

“He’s hard-headed.”

Yuzu laughs again, and she sets down her tea mug before she spills it on the couch. “Well, maybe he hasn’t gone shopping yet. Maybe he sold all of his winter clothes or something, or he just didn’t check the weather at all. It’s been snowing for like a week though – and he hasn’t come to school once with a jacket?”

Rin shakes her head. “He was in  _ shorts.  _ It’s fucking fifteen below out there and he’s in  _ shorts.” _

“I wonder if he could borrow Yuuya’s …” Yuzu suggests.

Yuuya is Yuugo’s roommate and Yuzu’s childhood friend. Rin hasn’t met Yuuya much, but what she knows of him from Yuugo and Yuzu is that Yuuya is kind to a fault and always willing to lend a hand. He’s the sort of guy who would give his jacket up to a shivering friend, just like Rin, and maybe Yuugo wouldn’t be so macho if it was his roommate offering up his clothes.

Rin feels a blush on her cheeks. “Can you, uh … text him? Don’t say it’s from me or anything, but just kind of throw it out there that Yuugo might not have winter clothes, or know where he stored them, or maybe he didn’t even pack them, and …” Rin lets out a breath. “Just ask him if he can lend some clothes to Yuugo?”

Yuzu’s lips quirk in a smile, and it looks like she has something to say. But she pulls her phone out of her pocket and texts Yuuya for Rin, and not a moment later her phone goes off again.

“Yuuya says sure,” she says. “He’s in class right now, but when he gets home he’ll give Yuugo a couple outfits.”

“He’s a lifesaver,” Rin says. “Honestly.”

* * *

Yet on the following day, when Rin braves the blustery winter weather once more on her way to class, she finds, yet again, the same poor, unfortunate soul tromping through the snow in shorts and a t-shirt. The only difference is this same damn person is wearing  _ her scarf and hat. _

“Yuugo!” Rin shouts. “The fuck!”

Startled, Yuugo falls face-first into the snow.

Rin dashes forward. She grabs the closest part of Yuugo – his arm – and yanks him right out of the snow. He’s in a different shirt, thankfully, but it’s now soaked through and clinging to his goose-pimpled skin. He shivers violently beneath her hand, and Rin half-expects himt to shiver right out of his skin. He looks frozen from his head to toe. Pitifully, he gives a weak sniffle.

“What?” Just one word, a hollow sound that the wind tries to sweep up and away.

“Where are your winter clothes?” Rin says.

Yuugo doesn’t answer.

Rin gives his shoulder a shake. “Yuugo –”

“I don’t have any, Rin-ri –”

“Bullshit. I told Yuzu to text Yuuya, and I know Yuuya gave you some clothes. These honestly can’t be them.”

Yuugo looks away. 

“Yuugo –”

“Rin-rin, we should build a snowman –”

“Yuugo.” Each time she says it, her voice pitches up a bit more and scrapes her throat. She knows he’s lying, and hiding something, and damn she knows she shouldn’t pry but she can’t help herself but want to know what’s going on. Yuugo’s going to run himself until he’s sick. If he forgot to pack his winter clothes then who cares? Yuuya will lend him someone, or if not Yuuya than someone …

Something clicks in Rin’s mind. She doesn't say it, but she relaxes her grip a little bit. Yuugo wilts down.

Rin has only met Yuuya on a handful of occasions, but she knows enough to know that Yuuya is shorter than Yuzu, and thin and nimble from the gymnastics he did as a kid. He’s shorter than Rin for sure, and … smaller than Yuugo. Of course Yuuya’s clothes wouldn’t fit Yuugo. Yuugo has hips, and a tummy, and round arms, and cheeks as red as apples.

“Hey,” Rin says, her voice soft and gentle. “I … have some clothes for you.”

“I don’t want your clothes.”

“They’ll fit,” Rin says. She places her hands on her hips and pinches the skin. “I’ve got hips too, Yuugo – trust me, I’ve got hips for days.”

A small smile tucks into the corner of his mouth. He sniffles deeply and scrubs a frozen hand at his eyes and nose. 

Gently, Rin sets her hand back down on his shoulder. Then she tugs him closer, and Yuugo topples into her. He’s taller than her, sure, but not by much, and not enough to really make a difference in pants size. 

Yuugo doesn’t say anything as she leads him across the field. He buries his frozen face into her shoulder, and his bangs tickle Rin’s cheek. He’s managed to gel them up even though he’s wearing her beanie, and Rin swallows back a laugh when she realises that. 

“Are you skipping class, Rin-rin?” he asks as they head into the building.

“Looks like it,” she says.

Yuugo whistles. “I didn’t think you were the kind of student to skip.” He snuggles closer to her. “I’m pretty special, aren’t I?”

“Sure are,” Rin says. Her own cheeks begin to warm, and she blames it on the change in temperature.

Rin leads Yuugo up the stairs and into her apartment. When they get inside, Rin strips off her winter gear; she makes Yuugo stand at the doorway until she can find him a towel to dry off with before he heads down the hallway. Rin leaves him in the bathroom, and returns with a pair of fleece-lined jeans and two long-sleeved shirts.

“Rin –”

“They’ll fit,” Rin says, “and they’re warm. Change before you get pneumonia.”

Yuugo takes the clothes and closes the door. 

Satisfied, Rin heads back to the living room and takes up her seat on the couch. Yuzu must be out shopping or at a club, for she isn’t in her usual spot on the couch or in her room. It’s just Rin and Yuugo. Butterflies stir in Rin’s stomach as she realises this. There’s something about Yuugo that gives her that weird feeling, and she has yet to put her finger on it.

When she hears the bathroom door click open, Rin sits pin-straight on the couch. She calls out, “In the living room, Yuugo,” and she hopes he heads the right way down the hallway. This is the first time Yuugo’s been at her house, after all.

Yuugo appears around the corner, cheeks burning, but … cute. It’s the first word that comes to Rin’s mind. The layered shirts are a good look – one orange undershirt and one blue pullover with a kangaroo pocket in the front. The jeans fit too, maybe a bit short around the ankles but on Rin she’s always had to cuff them up anyways. Best of all, Yuugo looks warm for once.

“Rin …” Yuugo says, plucking at the jeans.

“Those are from the men’s section, if you must know,” Rin says. When Yuugo raises an eyebrow, Rin taps her own jeans. “Pockets,” she says. “Pockets are a luxury afforded only to men’s jeans.”

It settles Yuugo a bit. He rolls his shoulders experimentally and bounces on the heels of his feet. Normally, Yuugo is so wild and carefree – it’s odd to see him so wound up about wearing her clothes, but then again everyone has their insecurities.

“You look cute,” she says, and her smile only widens as his entire face goes red, his mouth drops, and his scrabbles for some coherent response.

“Wh – wha –”

“You look cute,” Rin says again. “Now come sit.”

“What?” This time he gets the word out.

Rin purses her lips. “We’re skipping class, aren’t we? I sure as hell ain’t braving that storm again, and I doubt you want to either.” She pauses. “So if we’re going to make the most out of skipping, we should Netflix and Chill. Right?”

Yuugo still can’t get a coherent reply out, but he stumbles towards the couch like a robot with all its parts rusty and squeaky, and he sits down on the couch next to her. Rin scoots a bit closer, and when Yuugo moves closer to her too, Rin leans her head on his shoulder. He feels warm for once – a good, soft kind of heat on his skin.

She takes a deep breath.

“You look cute too, Rin-rin,” he blurts out. He looks straight ahead, purposefully avoiding making any kind of eye contact.

Rin snuggles closer.

“Thanks.”


End file.
